Review -- Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Onyx
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Lux (2)
Publisher:
Release Date:
Date Read: Jan 2013
Rating: ★★★★★


Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

A million times better than Obsidian, which I didn't think was possible.

Everything was brilliant, even the crappy frustrating things at the beginning. I'll just get the frustrating stuff out of the way before I start gushing on about the rest of the book.

I ended up reading this for a considerably long time and that's mostly because I was so angry during the first 100 pages that I could barely read the damn book. Seriously. Katy was pissing me off. Daemon was being an over=protective jerk. Then there was Blake, wedging himself like a rock between Katy and Daemon's relationship, and it was already rocky enough. Katy was being the usual annoying teenage girl, making excuses, being in denial. She kept leading Bob on and there was so much love triangle angsty crap. Argh!

Ok that's all. On to the great stuff.

There were some great character development both with Katy and Daemon. Katy was even more kickass in Onyx than in Obsidian. She's stronger, more independent and more sarcastic than ever. Daemon's character had the biggest turn-around. He was determined to prove to Katy that his feelings for her were his own, and not just the result of the alien linky-link between them. Over-protectiveness aside, he became sweet and endearing and it was fun seeing them be super cute with each other. I really liked the direction Armentrout took in regards to their relationship. It was natural and realistic in terms of Daemon and Katy's personalities. That doesn't mean they didn't make mistakes though. Because they did- a craptonne of them. But they were mistakes they have to had made to get to the place they were now. They were able to discover and know each other, be friends and earn each others' trust. And let's not forget the hot and heavy scenes. Super sexy.

So many things happened as well. I feel like all of this couldn't have happened in just one book. The pacing was good and there wasn't a boring part in the whole book. Armentrout amped up the plot and the stakes of the story to a whole new level. The new elements of the story- Boris, the DOD, the super powers- they all worked together to keep me on toes.

With the ending of Onyx, this series has become so much more than Daemon and Katy's love story and I'm sure Opal will hold more surprises and excitement and amazingness than both Obsidian and Onyx.

P.S.
I would pay lots of money to see that In My Mailbox video.

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Review -- Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Lux (1)
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: 08 May 2012
Date Read: December 2012
Rating:★★★★☆

I was the last person who hasn't read Obsidian. Months after it was released, people were still talking about it. They had the cover as their profile pics. Goodreads and bloggers were gushing about this series, so naturally I had to find what all the freaking fuss was about.

I am not a big fan of sci-fi/alien-y novels. I don't what it is about them but 95% of the books I read from that genre just doesn't entertain me (I can counting one finger the books from this genre that I genuinely liked.) Which is why I just avoid as much as I can, really. (Besides, how many series are actually based on aliens? Maybe I'm not as well-informed about the genre but there really aren't that many alien stuff.) Nor am I a fan of books, paranormal and dystopians are the usual culprit, where the romance of the story rides shotgun. Nope. That's not how I want my books.

So did I like Obsidian?

The typical non-typical bad-boy was there. Daemon is a class-A jackass, complete with the irresistible charm and drool-worthy looks. But I don't think you understand how big of a tool Daemon is. No, seriously. I know there are countless books where the love interest is a jerkwad but deep down he's not and <snooty voice> ohmygod, other people don't know the real him. He's just a misunderstood (otherworldly creature) and ohmygod, he's, like, so hot and I've fallen head over heels for him after that one time we made eye contact. Like, ohmygod. </snooty voice> But Daemon? Daemon is all of that multiplied by a a freaking million. And, I don't know why, but I don't hate him as much as I ought to.

Katy Swartz is the new girl in a small town who captured the attention of the resident jackass that is Daemon Black. Of course, Daemon's charms don't work on her because she's sshpecial and they're just friends but eventually they will realize that they are in love with each other. Yeah, yeah. Been there, done that. But I actually like Katy. Why? Because she's aware that Daemon is an asshole (I'm running out of adjectives for him) and manages to fend him off, apart from the occasional blubbering about how hot he is. But that's expected, it'd be weird if she didn't. Daemon's hot. Anyway, not only that, Katy stands up for herself. Yes. You heard that right. She doesn't take Daemon's crap, she chucks it back to him with all the force of a great typhoon.

"No. Sorry. You have spent months being the biggest jerk to me. You don't get to decide to like me one day and think I will forget that. I want someone to care for me like my dad cared for my mom. And you aren't him." 

Whaaaaaat! A heroine with a backbone and a logical brain in front of a hot paranormal creature? I don't believe this! It's practically unheard of! Can she get any better? Yes. She's an avid reader and she has a book blog. Armentrout probably only did that to get on our good side and it worked. How couldn't I automatically like when she's wondering which book she should do for waiting on Wednesday.

I really liked the alien parts of it. The Arum and the Lux, the dark and light, sworn enemies. It's kind of like the Lorien Legacies (which is that one alien series I told you about that I liked). The Arum have destroyed the Luxen planet, leaving the Lux people without a home and they're forced to take refuge in Earth. And I really like the whole true light form thingee. It's definitely a different sort of alien.

I know that this has been compared to Twilight (nowadays, what paranormal series hasn't been?). But I gotta admit, there are more than a few similarities. I won't even think about what it means for Twilight if I like Obsidian. But it's completely different, though. Obsidian is so much better.

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